Wednesday, March 07, 2007
The plausible deniability John Howard rejects makes John Howard's plausible deniability the best.
Mr Howard said statements made by Mr Rudd last week about his dealings with Mr Burke had seemingly been contradicted by information contained in newspaper reports today.
"We are dealing here with the candour of the alternative prime minister of Australia and his honesty in dealing with the Australian people," Mr Howard said.
"I think the Australian people at the very very least are entitled to a full account of what happened, an admission from him that the real purpose of those meetings was to advance his political career and an acknowledgement that in trying to pretend otherwise he has misled the Australian people."
Liberal MPs under investigation.
The AFP raided the offices of former minister and Liberal Member for Moreton Gary Hardgrave, Bowman’s Andrew Laming and Bonner’s Ross Vasta on Friday.
It is believed the investigation centres around the possible misuse of electoral and printing allowances.
Mr Laming says the allegations came from a former disgruntled staff member.
He says he has done nothing wrong.
John Howard was informally notified last Thursday night that the MPs would be raided the next day. He said yesterday he had not spoken about the raids to the MPs and did not intend to.
“These are operational matters and I think it is better in a sense that they be dealt with at arms length,” * !!! Mr Howard said.
Asked if he thought any of the three had done anything wrong, Mr Howard said: “I have no reason to doubt their denials.”
Liberal MP seeks Howard’s advice after police raids
* !!! An embattled Brisbane Liberal MP whose office was raided by police has sought advice from Prime Minister John Howard’s office.
A spokeswoman for the Member for Bowman, Andrew Laming, say he is not planning to resign but will make a statement later this morning.
He spent several hours talking with officials at Liberal Party headquarters in Brisbane yesterday.
Mr Laming’s office was raided by Australian Federal Police (AFP) last week along with two other Brisbane Liberal MPs after a disgruntled former employee made a complaint about electoral expenditure for printing.
Yesterday, the owner of the printing company, Jeff Williams, told the ABC that Mr Laming’s office had asked him to provide invoices for $60,000 in advance of completing printing work.
He understands the invoices were signed off as though the work had already been done.
Mr Laming’s spokeswoman says it did happen sometimes but she could not confirm it.
Despite pressure for Mr Laming to resign, his spokeswoman says that is not on the cards.
Labels: The Rodent
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